Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sasuke could never have guessed the series of events that would occur after he returned to the village this time. 

“Sasuke! Bring Sakura over to my house tonight, ya got that?” Naruto blabbered, slouching in his hokage chair. 

“Hn? I thought you got over that childish infatuation decades ago.” 

“HAH!? You got it all wrong! Seriously Sasuke, don’t tell me you’re still holding that over my head….” He sighed. “For the last time, I only have eyes for Hinata! Sakura’s all yours, buddy!”

“I was only kidding.” Sasuke deadpanned. After all these years, Naruto was still the same Naruto.

“Well– excuse me for not being able to tell when you’re joking! And for the record, I meant that the both of you should come over tonight…..” 

“Is it dinner or something? Your wife better be the one in charge of food,” Sasuke scoffed, remembering Naruto’s habits of living on instant ramen. This was his childlike sarcastic self that he only ever showed to Naruto. 

“Nah, it’s something more important than that….” He leaned in, his voice getting quieter. “There’s something important that the four of us need to discuss.” He whispered, rather dramatically. 

Something important? Could it be related to the Otsutsuki trouble we’ve been having? Sasuke wondered. But if that’s the case, why drag Sakura and Naruto’s wife into it?

“Fine. I’ll tell Sakura. But if she has a night-shift, you’re out of luck.” He sighed, wondering what on earth could warrant such a request.

“Gahhh you’re a lifesaver, Sasuke! See you then!” Naruto exclaimed, leaning back into his chair. 

“Mm. Whatever.” 

And so, as it grew dark outside, Sasuke and Sakura were outside the Uzumaki house. Sakura stepped forward to ring the doorbell, as footsteps approached it seconds later. 

“Glad you all could make it,” Hinata smiled, letting the two of them in. 

“Yeah! Nice to see you, Hinata!” Sakura said, putting her shoes aside. She and Hinata had built up a friendly rapport over the last few years, their kids being so close in age and all. “So uh, could you tell us what this is about now? According to Sasuke, Naruto worded it pretty ominously ....”

“Um…you see, I actually don’t know what this is about either.” Hinata scratched the back of her neck in defeat. 

“Hah!? He didn’t even tell you? Weird…”

“W-well, just sit for now. I’ll go call him so we can get this over with,” she disappeared down the hall. 

“Tch, he wasn’t even waiting for us? Idiot.” 

“Now now, Sasuke, let’s hear him out at least,” Sakura chimed, taking a seat on the couch. About a minute later, Hinata returned with Naruto following behind, wearing a big mischievous grin on his face and a handful of straws in his hand.

I should have lied and said that Sakura has the night-shift…

“Sasuke! Sakura! So glad the two of you could make it! Naruto grinned, sitting on the couch opposite to them. He gestured for Hinata to sit too. 

“Are Hima and Kawaki asleep?” Sakura inquired. 

“Yup!” Naruto placed the straws onto the table. 

“And Boruto?” Sasuke asked. 

“Ya didn’t know? Him and the rest of the team are out on an overnight mission!”

“Ah.” 

“So Naruto, spill it. Why’d you call us here? It seems like you deliberately picked a time where none of the kids would be here, so what is it?” Sakura interrogated, raising an eyebrow like an angry mother. The three of them eyed him expectantly. 

“Well you see….this is an important matter involving….” He paused for dramatic effect, much to their annoyance. “Boruto and Sarada!” 

Okay…not what Sasuke was expecting. But at least now he could understand why Naruto requested that the four of them talk at a time where all kids are occupied.  

“And that matter is…..?” Sakura questioned, growing more skeptical by the second. 

This is probably stupid, Sasuke thought, starting to tune everything out. 

“Ever since Valentine's Day…” It was comical how quickly Sasuke’s attention refocused. “The two of them have been avoiding each other like the plague! And whenever they are together, it’s nothing but bickering! It’s even worse than their usual arguments! Isn’t Valentine’s Day meant to bring people together!?” Naruto went on, as if he had thought long and hard about this dilemma.

“.....so you brought us here at the crack of midnight to discuss a childish argument between our kids?” Sakura didn’t know whether to laugh or to slap him. 

“But it’s gotta be more than a childish argument! I’m telling you! All you have to do is watch the two of them interact to see that something way bigger is going on, y’know!” He sighed. “According to Mitsuki, their last mission went horrible because of it! The complaints we received were crazy! Apparently Boruto caused a buckload of damage, and Sarada straight up told the client to ‘shut up and get lost’!”

“....that’s very unlike Sarada…” Sakura pondered. “I’ll talk to her, but just what do you expect us to do about their dispute?”

“Well…hehe…” Naruto scratched his neck as he averted his eyes, “I was kinda hoping we could figure that out right now….”

“Idiot.” Sasuke scoffed.

“Hey! You should be thanking me for not demoting your daughter!”

“Why would I thank you for practicing favoritism?” 

“It wasn’t favoritism it– it just felt out of character for her so I thought I should get to the bottom of things first!” 

Out of the blue, Sakura randomly smirked as she grinned to herself, a satisfied look plastered on her face. 

“Sakura?” 

“Well, I think that it would make sense for both Naruto and Sasuke to get to the bottom of this.” She started fiddling with her hair, seemingly nonchalant. “It was always– no, always is the two of them fighting, so it’s fitting to have the two of them settle the fight between their children. You agree with me, don’t you, Hinata?” 

“Wah– Sakuraaaa that’s not fair!” Naruto whined, leaning into his seat. “I’m way too busy for all of that, y’know!” 

“And I’m not? I don’t know about Boruto, but all you have to do to Sarada is lecture her a bit! She respects you a lot!” 

“I don’t see why I need to meddle with anything,” Sasuke chimed, “I could give Boruto a stern talking to, if that’s what you need.”

“That’s not going to solve anything you guys! Naruto sighed, pouting.

“That settles it, me and Hinata are leaving this up to you two,” Sakura moved to get up.

“Wait! Sakura—”

“And maybe get a move on while you’re at it. Honestly, you have no idea how much I sympathize with Mitsuki…” she sighed, grabbing Hinata by the arm. “Come on Hinata, let’s go get a drink or something.”

“But Sakura–” She spoke up, but the two of them were out the door. 

“...Idiot.”

“Oh don’t you start, Sasuke,” Naruto rolled his eyes. 

“What were those straws for?” 

“Ah, these? I was going to have us pick straws to decide who’s going to deal with our kids’ fight…..but now that I think about it, I probably didn’t stand a chance against a Sharingan and a Byakugan.”

“Idiot.”

“Well, whatever! You heard Sakura, it’s up to us to figure it out! You’re not gonna disobey her, are you?” Naruto teased, a smirk arising on his face. 

“.....I’m going home.” 

“As if you’d do that without checking on your wife.” 

Little did the two of them know that a pair of Byakugan had actually been spying on them the whole time from the top of the stairs. 

Chapter Text

“They should be back any minute,” Naruto stated, writing something down as he sat in his hokage chair.

“....Why send them on another mission if the last one ended so terribly?” Sasuke questioned, standing next to Naruto’s desk. 

“Well, all the other plausible shinobi were occupied at the time, and it’s a joint mission with Shikadai’s team, so I’m hoping things turn out alright this ti–”

The door suddenly flung open, a dejected Shikadai walking into the office. He looked even more tired and unamused than usual. 

“Shikadai! Where's…where’s everyone else?” Naruto asked, suddenly very concerned again. 

“They’re……they were behind me just a second ago….?” Shikadai looked behind him, and to his horror, no one was there. “What a drag…”

“Oh no…. was it that bad Shikadai?” 

“You don’t even know the half of it, Lord Seventh.” 

Gulp. Maybe Naruto was in over his head to think he was qualified to solve this. 

“Well, Shikadai, might as well tell me what happened while we wait for everyone else….” Naruto laughed, although it was not a laugh of joy. 

“Actually, things seemed to be going pretty well at the start. Boruto and Sarada weren’t really speaking, but they weren’t bickering either. However, it turned out that our client was pretty smitten with Sarada, so he flirted with her the entire time. And for some reason, she didn’t reject his advances, even though I’m certain she’s not interested in him. Boruto, for some reason, started acting all chummy with this other girl we met there. Completely out of the blue. She got all pissed with him and told him to stop acting immature, and well, the bickering started up again.

“It wasn’t until we were about to leave that things got seriously bad. Sarada gave the guy some leftover chocolates she had as a farewell gift…..and Boruto punched him. She started yelling at him, asking why he did that. But all Boruto said was that she should know that by herself, Now things are just as horrible as they were previously,” Shikadai concluded, yawning as if this mission sucked the life out of him.

“....Okay, that was not what I expected…” Naruto didn’t even have an inkling on what to do. “Shikadai, do you know what’s going on between them?”

“I have a pretty good guess, but I can’t be bothered figuring it out for sure.”

“Well, what is it?”

“Uh,” Shikadai shifted uncomfortably, looking away. “I think that Boruto and Sarada might actually—”

The door slammed open again. This time, Inojin came barreling in holding Boruto by the collar, ChouChou restraining Sarada. Mitsuki came in looking as unbothered as always. “Sorry for the tardiness, Lord Seventh.” He slammed Boruto onto the ground. 

“Ow!” 

“Um, ChouChou, think you could let go of Sarada so we can all talk like reasonable people?” Naruto pleaded.

“No can do, Lord Seventh. She has a tendency to punch him everytime he opens his mouth.” ChouChou replied, still gripping her firmly. Sarada merely rolled her eyes. 

“She probably wouldn’t do it in front of Lord Seventh though,” Inojin remarked. ChouChou sighed, slowly letting go of Sarada. 

“Boruto, you know you shouldn’t fight with girls!” Naruto scolded, his tone suddenly sharp. 

“Psh, girl? She’s more like a crazy og—” Boruto stopped mid-sentence as he noticed Sasuke eyeing him in the corner. “She’s not just some girl, she’s fine.” 

Naruto sighed for what felt like the eightieth time that day. “Alright, everybody but Boruto and Sarada, out.” Absolutely no one objected when it came to leaving. 

“Alright, Boruto! Sarada! I don’t know what the heck has been going on with you two lately, but it ends now! You two are teammates! A little friendly rivalry is acceptable, heck, it’s even encouraged! But this is just ridiculous! The only reason I haven’t demoted or suspended you guys is because this is incredibly unlike you guys, especially you, Sarada.” Sarada merely looked away, a displeased expression on her face. “Boruto, didn’t me and your mother teach you better than to go picking fights with clients!? Shikadai told me you went as far as a punch!” 

The two of them sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, but was only a minute. Until Sarada finally decided to speak up.

“Sorry, Lord Seventh. My behavior was unacceptable, I’ll accept any punishment you give me.” She looked genuinely sorry, but a hint of irritation was still as clear as day on her face. Boruto still didn’t say a word. 

After another sigh, Naruto continued. “Before we get to that sort of thing, can the two of you please just explain what’s going on? If you can’t tell us, then at least fix things with each other?” He pleaded. 

Sarada crossed her arms. “I would, if I knew what his issue was.” 

“Hah!?” Boruto finally blurted. 

“Boruto is the one that picked a fight with me, I just went along with it because I refuse to be treated like a ragdoll,” she shrugged. 

“You– you big liar! This is all because of you!”

“ Oh? Then why can’t you enlighten me on what I possibly could have done to make you this angry!?” she yelled, almost raising a fist at him but putting it back down. 

“Because you already know, dammit! And don’t play the victim! You started acting all coldly towards me, too!” 

“Did not!” 

“Did too!” 

“Did—”

“Alright guys, this is not constructive whatsoever. Sasuke, aren’t ya gonna chime in a bit? We had an agreement!” Naruto peered at Sasuke.

Sighing, Sasuke stepped forward. “Did something happen on Valentine’s Day?” It pained him to even ask. Mediating was not really his forte. 

“.......”

“.......”

“Tch, no! What makes you think that!?” Boruto sneered as he looked away, the slightest bit of blush tinting his cheeks. Sarada looked even more irritated than before. But she was also incredibly pissed with herself. Pissed for acting so immature over something so small. She didn’t understand it herself, why she was so upset. But really, genuinely, she didn’t actually know why Boruto was angry with her. Didn’t really care to ask. Okay, she was scared to ask. 

Boruto was equally embarrassed at his childish outbursts. Five whole days had passed and he still hadn’t gotten over it. Why was Sarada so good at bringing this embarrassing side out of him? More importantly, why was she pissed? He should be the one upset here! 

Sasuke narrowed his eyes skeptically, before sighing again. I really don’t want to do this…

“How about I train the two of you for a bit?” he suggested, hoping that the environment change would help. 

“Ehh? Me and her?”

“He’s my dad, y’know.” 

“Well duh! When did I say otherwi–”

“Two of you. Get walking.” Sasuke scolded. The two of them surrendered and made their way out of the office. 

“Uh, Sasuke? You sure about this?” Naruto asked, worried. 

“Boruto has a tendency to act more well behaved and mature around me. That might also influence Sarada since he’s the reason she’s so aggravated. Also, since they have all this extra energy, they might as well use it to train rather than uselessly bicker.” 

Naruto chuckled. “That’s so like you, Sasuke. I can’t help but wonder how Kakashi and Sakura put up with us back in the day…”

“....Yeah.” 

Sasuke couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps he had bitten off more than he could chew. For the past few minutes, the three of them had been walking in an eerie silence. At first he thought that it was better than them yelling….but at least yelling meant them acknowledging each other. This might have been worse. After much debate, he decided to finally start some conversation and try to get to the bottom of this as they walked to the training grounds. The only lead he had so far was Valentine’s Day….

“Did the two of you do anything for Valentine’s Day?” he asked. Boruto didn’t reply. 

“Nope. I’m sure Boruto did something though.” Sarada snided. 

“Huh!? I didn’t do anything!”

“ Sure. ” Sarada snarked, rolling her eyes. 

Huh. Did Boruto ditch Sarada on Valentine’s Day or something? I didn’t think that she cared about that sort of thing. Must be more to it.

“I don’t even care about Valentine’s Day!” Boruto scoffed, his hands resting behind his head. 

“That big pile of chocolates from girls on your desk says otherwise.” 

“Hah!? I didn’t ask for anything like that! I don’t even like any of them!” 

“Uh huh,” she scoffed, sarcastically. 

“Wait, how do you know about the pile on my desk?” 

“....That’s not important!” 

After that, the two of them went back to an eerie silence until they reached the training grounds. 

“So, whaddaya want us to do, Mr Sasuke?” Boruto asked. 

“For this exercise, the two of you are going to be paired against me.” 

I need to rekindle their sense of teamwork. 

“Ugh, fine,” Boruto scoffed. Sarada scoffed back. 

“You won’t be allowed to use any jutsus. Just Taijutsu. That includes the Sharingan, Sarada.” Sasuke explained, taking some steps backward to put some distance. 

“Mm. Got it.” 

“Now, attack me.” 

The two of them leaped forward, running towards Sasuke without making their usual eye contact. Because of this, they weren’t in sync in the slightest. Sarada threw a shuriken only for Sasuke to easily deflect it, while Boruto threw kunai which also didn’t work. Nonetheless, their efforts were in vain as Sasuke easily clobbered them whilst barely even moving from his spot. Within seconds, the two of them were on the ground.

“Seriously? That’s all it took?” The two of them were out of breath, panting as sweat beads rolled off the back of their heads. “Honestly, I’m disappointed.”

Those words hit the two of them incredibly hard. Boruto, because he had already heard those words from his father once, and so hearing them from his master as well was gut-wrenching. He had already started to believe that he was a disappointment, anyway. Sarada, because she spent her life trying to impress all of the adults around her, especially her father who she thought was proud of her until now. 

The two of them got up, a new unwavering determination visible in their eyes. Sasuke mentally smirked. “Now take Sarada’s shuriken back from me.” 

For the first time in days, the two of them made eye contact with each other, resolving to finally rekindle their unspoken connection that had been lost. 

Ready, Sarada?

I’ll cover you, Boruto. 

Boruto ran up to Sasuke, circling around him as he threw kunai, Sasuke deflecting all of them. When Sasuke was about to propel Boruto backward, Sarada appeared out of nowhere and got in between them, letting Boruto build up the necessary momentum to land another attack. It missed, but it didn’t matter. 

“We win.” Sarada smirked, holding up the kunai with two of her fingers as she dangled it. 

“Aye! Nice job, Sara–” He stopped himself from reaching to high-five her by instinct, remembering the grudge from before. “Obviously.” 

Sasuke had been sure that this would be enough to get them to let bygones be bygones and move on from whatever happened. Clearly, they were just being petty at this point. It was obvious that they didn’t actually hate each other. It had even seemed like they had forgiven each other for whatever happened, but of course, their egos were too big to let it go. There was nothing that he and Naruto could do about it, this was just something that they had to talk through themselves. 

Or actually, there was one other thing he could do. Normally not something he would ever resort to….but he was feeling quite petty himself after all that he went through. 

Chapter Text

“Hey, Shikadai?” 

“Hm?” 

“Do you know what’s going on with Boruto and Sarada?” Inojin inquired

“...I might, but it’s really just a drag to think about so just drop it.” 

“Oh come on! After all they put us through? Just spill it.” 

“Yeah, Shikadai, spill it!” Another voice said. 

“Wait, who was–” He looked behind him to see…not who he expected. “Himawari!?” 

“That’s me!” She grinned, pointing to herself. 

“Wait, what are you doing here?” Shikadai asked, still confused. 

“To see what’s going on with my big brother, obviously!” 

Shikadai sighed. “Alright…just– you guys need to keep your mouths shut, okay?” 

“Okay!” Inojin and Himawari said in unison. 

Shikadai looked around to make sure no one was watching, and told the other two to lean in closer while he whispered it to them.

“....Damn. Gotta say, I didn’t see that coming. You sure it’s like that?” Inojin remarked.

“I think I’m positive after today.”

Himawari merely giggled to herself. “Hehe, I always knew that there was something like that! I can’t wait to tease big brother!”

“Hey, what did I say about keeping your mouth shut?” Shikadai scolded. 

“Right. Sorry about that!” 

Sasuke had excused himself, saying that he’ll be right back and that the two of them should continue sparring. The tension in the air was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. 

“I guess….we should spar….” Sarada trailed off. 

“Yeah….” 

Boruto watched Sarada as she went to go pick up the weapons thrown all over the place, until he noticed her stop in her tracks. She just stood there, stuck. It was making him uneasy. 

“....Sarada?” Slowly, he walked up to her, wondering what on earth she was doing. As he approached from right behind her, he grabbed her from her shoulder as she turned around. 

The sight that he saw was incredibly gruesome, causing his heart to stop. Suddenly, it appeared as though there was a bunch of kunai slashing through her, stabbing her as blood seeped out from her skin. She fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

“B-boruto…”

“Sarada!” He knelt down, confused and mortified as to what just happened. She was fine just a second ago!? Was she attacked? But…he was watching her! He should have noticed! And there was no way Sarada would go down that easily! “Sarada!....What happened!?” 

“Boruto I….it hurts……” she shuddered, now laying on the ground. 

“Sarada! Hang in there!” He inspected her further, fear entering every bone in his body. What…the hell? How could this happen? He was supposed to protect her dammit! And now she was dying! Tears welled in his eyes as he saw the bloody image of Uchiha Sarada, the strongest girl he knew. “I-I’ll get you a medic! Just–”

“Boruto….” She grabbed onto his hand. “There’s no time….this is goodbye..”

“No! That can’t be true! You’d never die like this! This can’t be real….” He couldn’t think clearly at the sight of Sarada battered and bruised. He held her, a tear slipping down his cheek. “I’m sorry……for being such an idiot.” 

“Boruto…..”

“I shouldn’t have acted like that, dammit. Agh! I can’t believe I got so upset over the fact that you gave every guy you know some Valentine’s Day chocolate but me…!” He put a hand over his face, wiping his tears as he was about to lose Sarada. 

Only when he moved his hand and opened his eyes…..Sarada was completely fine. Confused, even. He blinked twice to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, and sure enough, he wasn’t. He was kneeling on the ground, crying and screaming while a fully intact Sarada knelt beside him, worried but also confused. 

“Um, Boruto? What happened just now?” 

Boruto flinched backward, falling onto the ground with a thud. “H-huh!? But….you were just bleeding and dying a second ago! I don’t understand!” 

“What!? No I wasn’t? I was just picking up the shuriken from the ground when you started screaming all of a sudden, so I ran over here! You really scared me, y’know!” Sarada pinched the top of her nose.

“....So you’re not dying?” 

“...No? Why would I be dying? Do you think that I can’t even handle a spar session?” 

“What a relief!” Boruto exclaimed, laying his back onto the ground as he processed what just happened. Sarada wasn’t hurt. She wasn’t dying. She was alive and well. Everything was fine. Everything was–

“Did you say that you were upset because I gave every guy a chocolate except you?” Sarada inquired, now kneeling over him. 

Boruto’s cheeks turned slightly red before he turned away. “Just forget it.” 

Sarada sat down next to him, her cheeks taking on a pink hue. “I didn’t get you one because you said that you didn’t want one from me.” 

“I say that every year. That never stopped you from getting me one anyway.” He turned around, now lying on his side, away from Sarada. 

“....Why would you even want chocolate from me? Sumire’s the one that you like.” Sarada frowned. 

“What? Who told you that lie? I don’t like Sumire like that, she’s just a friend.” Boruto explained, not wanting Sarada to get the wrong idea.

“But you were waiting on the hokage monument for her. You accepted her chocolate.” 

“Hah!? How’d you even know I was there? And I wasn’t waiting for her, she just showed up. Those chocolates didn’t really seem romantic, so it would’ve felt rude to just not take them.” 

“Then why were you there?” 

“.....Normally, you show up whenever I go there.” 

“That’s just cuz you always deface the monument!”

“But you didn’t show up so what does it matter!?” 

“Why would that even matter to you!? You got tons of chocolate and confessions!” 

“Those confessions were all from random girls I don’t even know! I don’t even eat their chocolate! I give it to Himawari!”

“You didn’t tell me why you were on the monument.”

“I told you– I was waiting for you !” Boruto’s eyes widened. He’d never meant to say that out loud. This was a disaster. “I– I mean–”

“You…were waiting for me? Why?” Sarada’s mind was running all over the place, so she needed him to confirm that it wasn’t what she was thinking. 

“Because I wanted you to give me chocolate, okay!?” He sat up, facing her as they were both red in the face again. 

She slapped him. “Stupid Boruto! You liar! You’ve never wanted chocolate from me! Every year you make it a point to tell me how much you don’t want chocolate from me! I don’t even register as a girl to you, stupid!” She was so frustrated she could tear up. 

“I’m not lying, okay!? You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted chocolate from. I only ever eat the chocolate that you give me on Valentine’s Day…” He was more embarrassed than he could imagine, but there was no taking back what he said anymore. 

“But then…why do you always tell me not to get you any…?”

“....I don’t know alright? I don’t know why I am the way I am!” They were both yelling by this point.

“I don’t get it. Why do you want chocolate from me!? You don’t even like me, you like Sumire—”

“Why are you still convinced that I like her!? I told you, it’s not her that I like! Why do you even care!? I’m the one upset that you got everyone chocolate except for me!” 

“I did get you chocolate, okay!?” She looked down, unable to look at him. 

“...What?” 

“But I didn’t give them to you because….I thought you wouldn’t want them. I didn’t think you’d care since you had so many. Yours is always the first batch I make, since I like you—” She brought both hands to her mouth to cover it, but it was too late. He heard her. It was all over. 

She backed up, still holding her mouth in embarrassment as she grew as red as her outfit.

“...S-sarada?” He, too, grew beet red. 

“J-just forget it!” She stood up, tears pricking her eyes. “Just forget this all happened, okay!?” I’m leavi–” He grabbed her by the wrist, stopping her. 

“Did you mean it? You weren’t being sarcastic like usual?” He almost sounded…hopeful.

“....Yes, idiot. I wouldn’t joke about something like that. Now let me go—”

He pulled her wrist backwards, making her back collide into his chest. He prayed that she wouldn’t hear how fast his heart was beating right now. 

“Stupid!” He put his hand on her head, lowering it so that she wouldn’t see the foolish face he was making. He rested his chin atop of her head, engulfing her body with his arms. Partly so she wouldn’t escape, and partly because he’d always wanted to do that. “I like you too! You really didn’t catch all that after my big speech about wanting your chocolate!? Who’s the idiot now!?” 

Her breath stopped. She hoped and prayed that Boruto wouldn’t somehow hear how fast her heart was beating. “Y-you like me!? Really!?” She yelled back, despite their close proximity to each other. 

“Yes!” 

“But I thought that you hate me!” She grew redder, if that was even possible. 

“I-I do hate you! Totally! And I thought that you hate me !” 

“That– Wait! Why are we still yelling!? We both like each other! Shouldn’t we be happy!?” Despite what she said, she was still yelling. 

“I don’t know! And I am happy! And I actually sorta like it when you yell!”

“Hah!?”

“It makes me feel at home for some reason!” Sarada was awfully touched by his words. Her brain started to malfunction.

“I always end up yelling whenever I’m with you! Stupid Boruto!” She flung her head backward to hit him by the jaw. 

“Ow!”

“Sorry.” 

Neither of them knew what to do at this point. Boruto didn’t really want to let go, and Sarada didn’t really want him to. Neither of them had any experience when it came to this, so they were at a loss. Boruto had never been a fan of romance movies, in fact, he considered them a snooze-fest. But his mom often watched them on TV, so he tried remembering what normally came after a confession. 

Oh. 

“Sarada…” He mustered, his voice hoarse and quieter. He loosened his grip on her. “Turn around for a sec.” 

“Huh? W-why?” She was way too embarrassed to look at his face right now. 

“Stupid! Just do it!” Awkwardly, Sarada shifted to face him, being comforted by the fact that he looked as equally embarrassed as her. 

“S-so? What is it?” Her voice was quiet, too. 

Boruto averted his eyes away, his eyebrow throbbing as he scowled to hide the blush. Finally, he looked at her again as his hand cupped her by the chin, her eyes widening in surprise. His other hand moved a strand of hair away from her face as he guided her closer. He gave her room to pull away if she wanted to, but she didn’t. 

Gently, he pressed his lips to hers, his heart stopping at the feel of her soft touch. When she didn’t pull away, he brought her body closer to his again, letting his fingers run through her hair. She tasted sweet like cherries. So this was what kissing a girl was like.

Sarada didn’t move a muscle in fear that it would cause him to retreat from her. He tasted like burgers, to absolutely no surprise. But…it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t bad at all. It was an innocent kiss, but it meant the world to them. 

When he finally pulled away, he ducked her head down and into his chest, not letting her see the stupid expression on her face.

“Ow! What was that for?” Sarada retorted, although she didn’t even seem mad. 

“Stop complaining and stay there, stupid!” He was happier than he could express. Sarada liked him. She liked him back. She didn’t hate kissing him. He felt like his heart could explode. 

“Is that how you speak to the girl that you like!?” Sarada hissed into his chest. “How rude!” She didn’t care. She was actually celebrating in her head. 

“Oi! Big words coming from the person that confessed first!” 

“Hmph!” 

Despite their childish bickering, neither of them let go of each other for the next hour. 

“Uh, it’s been a long time hasn’t it? Where’s Mr Sasuke?” Boruto wondered, looking around to see if he was around. 

“No clue. Maybe we should ask around and go look for him.” Sarada replied, scratching her chin. 

“Kay.” 

It soon became evening, and a concerned (okay, nosy) Naruto sent a shadow clone to the training ground. 

Huh, seems like they left. I wonder if they got things reso- “AAAAH” Naruto jumped in horror at the sight of Sasuke curled up inside of a bush. “Sasuke!? What the heck are you doing there!? You scared the crap out of me!” 

Sasuke looked up to see that it was Naruto. “Oh…it’s you.” 

“So….what are you doing there? Boruto and Sarada left ages ago!”

“Shh.” Sasuke shushed him. He actually looked…mortified. Naruto had never seen his eyes twitch so much. He looked like he’d just seen a ghost.

“Uh, Sasuke? You..okay?”

“Shut up, Naruto. I’m processing.” He had leaves all over his body. 

“Umm, ya wanna process whatever you’re processing outside of the bush? Sakura’s probably worried sick!” 

“This is all your fault.”

“Hah!? How is this my fault? What’s even happening!?” 

“I probably went too far with that genjutsu though….” Sasuke contemplated, remembering the genjutsu he had cast on Boruto earlier. It was the same kind of thing that Kakashi had done to Sakura back in the day. “Although….it could have been a lot worse. Maybe this isn’t so bad.”

“Sasuke!? What’re you even talking about!?” 

Sasuke finally stood up, brushing the leaves off of him. “If it’s him, I suppose I can live with it.” He put his sole hand on Naruto’s shoulder, “seems like you’re good for some things, after all,” and walked away without another word. 

“HAH!?” 

An hour ago, in another bush, way further away: 

“Ugh, ChouChou you’re squishing me!” Inojin complained. 

“It’s not my fault! Just deal with it!” 

“What a drag….” Shikadai groaned. “We can’t even see anything from here. Himawari’s the only one with a clear view. I can’t believe I let you guys drag me into this.”

“Oh quit it, Shikadai. We all know you’re just as curious as we are,” Inojin scoffed. “Himawari, what’s going o–” He noticed that she stopped using her Byakugan. “Why’d you stop looking?” 

“Um,” she looked away, her ears turning red from embarrassment. “They seemed like they needed some privacy….” 

“WHAT? NO WAY SARADA ACTUALLY LIKES HIM!” ChouChou shrieked.

“Stop screaming!” Inojin yelled back, only to sigh. “Well, we got our answer. You all happy now?” 

“Yes!” Himawari exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. 

“....Good.” 

Chapter Text

At first, Mitsuki had been under the impression that everything had gone back to normal after whatever happened that day. Boruto and Sarada’s senseless fighting reverted back to their usual banter and harmless teasing. 

But maybe he was wrong. 

When around other people, he noticed that the two of them never failed to stand next to each other. If for some reason, the circumstance made them stand separately from each other, without fail, they’d somehow gravitate next to each other. 

Whenever he teased them about making a good couple, rather than denying it completely and getting annoyed like before, they’d scoff and look away, blushing. 

Whenever he and Boruto hung out with Shikadai and Inojin, he noticed how Boruto’s mood would often elevate whenever they ran into Sarada. Sometimes he’d even clean up his act and stop acting with his usual idiotic tendencies. 

He also noticed that Sarada’s punches became way less aggressive against him. And for the amount of time she spent scolding him and telling him to stop breaking the rules, she spent double the time covering for him and secretly helping him. 

Not to mention, they were way more comfortable with touching each other nowadays. Sure, they weren’t exactly uncomfortable before, but something was….different. 

However, the most notable observation was made by Mitsuki when he caught Boruto walking around with a bag of chocolates in his hands, the most gleeful, lovestruck look on his face. Boruto never ate Valentine’s Day chocolates. Why did he look at them so gently as if they were the most important thing in the world to him?

Although they denied being a couple, Mitsuki couldn’t help but wonder…..were those two…..?

“Hey there, Hima!” Sarada greeted, taking off her shoes at the Uzumaki household. 

“Nice to see you!” Himawari smiled, running up to Sarada. 

“Sorry if we’re late,” Sakura sighed, “my shift ran a little longer than intended and Sasuke refused to come here without me.” She shrugged. 

“Ehh, don’t worry! It’s been a long time since our families have had dinner together, hmm?” Naruto grinned, as he helped Hinata place food dishes onto the table. 

“Mhm!”

“Yo.” Kawaki said, glancing at Sarada as he was already seated at the table. 

“..Yo, Kawaki,” Sarada replied, sitting next to him. Instinctually, Boruto got up from the couch and went to sit next to Sarada, earning him glances from everyone. 

“....What? Do I have something on my face?” Everyone just went back to what they were doing after that statement. Not Sasuke though, he shot a glare at Boruto dead in the eye. Sakura noticed, but didn’t say anything. 

“S-sarada….why does your old man keep looking at me like that? Did I do something to offend him?” Boruto winced, pretending not to notice. 

“How should I know?”

Himawari sat next to Kawaki, eyeing him suspiciously. “Ahem.” 

“Eh?” 

She batted her eyes at him, and he finally groaned in defeat. “Oh, fine.” He got up from his seat and walked towards the door. He opened it and walked outside.

“Kawaki? What’re you doing?” Naruto asked, silverware in his hands. 

“There’s something out here that you guys should investigate. Looks like some people are in trouble. We need a Byakugan too.” He said, walking further outside.

“Huh? What’s–”

“You two stay here and watch Himawari.” Kawaki slammed the door shut before Boruto could protest. 

“Hey! Wait up!” Boruto demanded, about to run towards the door. Himawari tugged at his jacket. 

“But, I thought you were gonna stay with me……” She pouted, putting on the typical kid-sister act. 

“Sarada can stay with you! I’m gonna—” He stopped as Himawari started tearing up (Fake tears, of course.) “Agh, alright alright. Stop crying.” He sighed, slumping back into the couch. “Sarada, ya wanna play some video games with me?” He smirked.

“Not really.”

“Then just watch me!” He grinned even brighter, gesturing for her to join him on the couch. Her cheeks had the faintest bit of pink before she agreed, joining him on the couch. She spotted a book on the nearby table and grabbed it.

“Might as well read while waiting,” she cozied up as she opened the book. 

“I’m gonna use the washroom,” Himawari said nonchalantly before leaving the living room. 

“Kay.” 

Minutes passed, and after using the washroom, Himawari resided at the top of the stairs rather than going back to the living room. “Hehehe….”

“Oi.”

“Wah!” Himawari nearly jumped, but thankfully didn’t fall. “You scared me, Kawaki!” 

“You’re lucky that there were actually people that needed help,” he sighed, “just what’re you thinking with this? And how did no one notice me enter through the back door?” 

“Ehehe, just look over there.” She gestured towards Boruto and Sarada, giggling. 

The sight that was bestowed upon them was downright adorable. Boruto cozied his head in Sarada’s lap, holding the small game console as he played it. Sarada held her book above him as she flipped through the pages. Every time Boruto won, he knocked on the back of Sarada’s book to tell her about it with a grin. 

“No kiss to congratulate me?” 

She’d just mumble “idiot” as she went back to her book, and the slightest bit of red hued her face. They were so at peace. 

“.....I’m hungry.” Kawaki mumbled, frowning. 

“Oh, don’t pretend you don't think it’s cute! I saw you hide a smile!” Himawari snickered. 

The two of them hung around the stairs for a few minutes before Kawaki sensed that the adults were coming back. Himawari had fallen asleep. He looked over to see that even Boruto and Sarada had fallen asleep, Boruto treating her lap like a pillow. 

He sighed, walking to the front door. He opened it and closed it loud enough to wake them up. The two of them immediately jumped, Boruto sitting up at once. “K-kawaki!” 

“Enough with the PDA, they’re coming back.” 

“W-wha– PDA!? We– we weren’t!-” The door slammed open. 

“We’re baaack!” Naruto exclaimed, glancing towards the table. “You guys didn’t eat?” 

“We were just about to!” Sarada declared, standing up and straightening her glasses as she walked to the table. 

Sasuke glared at Boruto the whole time during dinner.